me and a friend used the 14 inch car rim at first, and it works very well. then he bought the tire changer from habor freight. check out this link about tire changing..
Guide To Changing Motorcycle Tires

I get mine done foe $20 or free sometimes. Not worth the trouble (for me).

me and my buddies got the tire changer from harbor freight and i bought a balancer from ebay so we do tons of tires now we actually modified the stand a little to make it stronger and easier to use also get the plastic sliders for the rim to keep from messing up the paint and keep a squirt bottle of soapy water and use the hell out of it

this is all you need and some help in how to use the tools
Bead Breaker :: Tire Repair Tools :: Tire Repair :: Prevent Or Repair :: Aerostich/RiderWearHouse Motorcycle Jackets, Suits, Clothing, & Gear
Adhesive Wheel Weights :: Tire Repair Tools :: Tire Repair :: Prevent Or Repair :: Aerostich/RiderWearHouse Motorcycle Jackets, Suits, Clothing, & Gear
Plastic Rim Saver :: Tire Repair Tools :: Tire Repair :: Prevent Or Repair :: Aerostich/RiderWearHouse Motorcycle Jackets, Suits, Clothing, & Gear
PORTABLE MOTORCYCLE TIRE WHEEL BALANCER TRUING STAND:eBay Motors (item 180367019865 end time Jul-09-09 09:14:13 PDT)
and some soapy water in a spray bottle

takes up too much space in my garage. i change all my dual sport tires myself with tire irons. I pay (too much) for my street bike tires. FFS I take em off the rim, thats the hard part.

Tire irons for me. I welded up a balancing stand so i don't have to pay anyone to do it. I really don't mind spending the money to get it done but rather it is the inconvenience of drivng there and dropping off the rims and then have to wait several hours for the shop to decide it's time to do the tires and them go back to pick them up. If they did them while I waited then it would be worth it.

At the last shop I worked at we only used tire irons so i got pretty good at using them.

There was a post long ago explainging how to make your own tire balancer from roller blade bearings, and how to change tires. I have been using it since then (about 4 years ago). My balacer is made of wood stands, l bracket, and roller blades abec 5 bearings. I use the wheel axle to hold the wheel on the balacer. two sets of tire irons along with several plastic strips cut from laundry detergent bottles. They mold well and can be replaced easily. I use a large C clamp with rubber boot on each side and a small wood strip to the tire. It breaks the beed easily and I slip the plastic strip and tire iron on before releasing the C clamp.

I'm getting pretty good at it, my last tire change took about 1 hour for each while drinking a beer.
I rather put the money to other things and know it's done right.

i started changing my own tires 10 yrs ago, i had a zx750, took my rear tire to the shop, there was a sign saying $15 to change a tire + weights, (carry in ) they changed my tire and the total came to $29 , i asked why, (i was there 1 or 2 times a week, 1st name basis with most of the employees). he said, frank, i was told to charge $25 + weights, "because you didn't buy the tire from us" (Stealerships, they didn't carry the tire). i've changed my own ever since. the more you do it the easier and faster it gets. built a wheel balancer with roller bearings, you can get so accurate with these it's silly.